chronology of the four gospels

​As one can read through the Gospels in a few hours, it goes without saying that these four records cover only the tip of the iceberg concerning all that Yeshua (Jesus) did and said. Thus the fourth Gospel closes with this acknowledgement.

JOHN 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

The question that begs to be answered is this; Did GOD have a hand in compiling the four Gospel accounts? Because of the apparent contradictions found in the Gospels, many scholars believe that all four evangelists just did their best to compile a history from the different sources they could find. Hence, they believe that we have four different and at times conflicting testimonies. But as Christians can we accept this?

If we believe that Christ was GOD's Son and that GOD gave Him for the redemption of the world, can we accept the idea that GOD would not somehow preserve a testimony of HIS Son's accomplishments? Would GOD allow the record of all that HIS Son endured to be lost to the sands of time? Of course not. We must approach the Gospels as if they join in one harmonious testimony, complimenting and enhancing one another. We must recognize that GOD himself was working behind the scenes, so to speak, in compiling them, so as to show forth HIS mighty work in Christ.

Our attitude is the key to what we see and understand. Many apparent contradictions that scholars stumble over, we will see fit together to demonstrate the beauty and intricacy of the scriptures. If HE who hung the stars in the vacuum of Space did indeed have a hand in inspiring these Gospels accounts, then oh how much they must show forth HIS magnificence. Small details apparently inserted for no apparent reason in one Gospel unveil great truths in another Gospel. It is only when the four separate accounts are allowed to illuminate each other that we fully see their beauty.

Howbeit, inspiration is not where GOD takes over the hand of the writer and determines every letter written. This word inspiration (pneustos) is from the Greek root word pneo, meaning to blow, as when the wind fills a sail and carries the vessel some distance (JOHN 3:8). In the same fashion, at times GOD blew into HIS servants, filling their sails and carrying them forward. A Biblical writer therefore received inspiration to write and then let flow that word or phrase or paragraph. Afterwards, he may have paused waiting for more inspiration, or he may have continued writing from his own experience or imagination, that is until more inspiration filled him full and carried him forward again.

As chosen apostles, Matthew and John wrote as eyewitnesses to many of the events of which they personally participated. On the other hand, Luke wrote mostly from interviews which he had conducted with many of those eyewitnesses, sometimes decades after the incident (LUKE 1:1-3). As such, there was no guarantee that his sources were always accurate. Luke was most careful to note the inadequate reliability of some of those sources by describing in discreet language the events at hand, such as “And it came to pass also on another sabbath” (6:6) or “And it came to pass afterward” (8:1), and “Now it came to pass on a certain day” (8:22).

Mark also wrote some years after the events depicted, but very possibly with Peter at his side, filling in the blanks and bringing to light many overlooked details. Peter might remember that the room in which Yeshua taught was so full, that it overflowed out the door (MARK 2:2). Or he may remember that hired servants joined James, John and Zebedee in their boat (MARK 1:20), or that the grass whereupon they sat was green (MARK 6:39). This is all more fully developed and expounded upon in the Study, The Source and Sequence of the Gospels.

There are of course just so many ways to heal a leper; there are just so many ways to teach a truth, or to illustrate a concept. As Yeshua was healing and ministering the word unto "great multitudes" (see LUKE 7:20-22 for illustration), even an "innumerable multitude", perhaps thousands if not tens of thousands over the course of His ministry, He was bound to have two totally different events seem identical in many regards. And this has been the failing of many of the so called "harmonies" of the Gospels. They take two similar events and mistake them for being identical. This is also the shortcoming of the critics, who disbelieve the inspiration of the scriptures because they think they see discrepancies between two events which they suppose to be identical yet must be only similar.

By design or otherwise, Yeshua often repeated His teachings and illustrations. For years He spent everyday, often the entire day, teaching His disciples. Obviously He taught the same thing many times over. Just because Matthew and Luke both record some particular truth, that doesn't necessarily mean that it was on the same occasion that Yeshua taught it. Not only do the four Gospels give us evidences of this, but even each of the Gospel accounts taken by themselves illustrate that He did thus repeat Himself. To see some of these examples, go here.

Of course some events in our Lord's life could not have been duplicated. His baptism was a single experience. His choosing His twelve apostles only happened once. His transfiguration was a singular unique occurrence. These distinctive events (given in Red in the table below) give us a structure to work within so that we can then divide up the rest of His experiences into a sequence that demonstrates the general chronology of the four accounts. Certain events which I suspect of being out of their proper order (according to Luke and sometimes followed by Mark) I have colored in green in the table below.

An example may be useful to illustrate for us the importance of reading what is written and not reading into the text our preconceived ideas. We know that immediately after His baptism, Yeshua went into the wilderness to be tempted forty days by the Devil (MARK 1:12). Yet in the fourth Gospel, it is written that "the next day after" Yeshua was hanging out with two of John's disciples, Andrew and perhaps John. What is the answer? Well, most of us assume that this "next day after" was the next day after His baptism, but the record doesn't say that. In fact, no where in John's account does it actually record Yeshua's baptism. Read it for yourself, it only comprises nine verses (JOHN 1:26-34). Yeshua's baptism is referred to, with many of the details of the other Gospels, but the actual baptism isn't recorded there because it had already taken place over forty days earlier.

Obviously, Yeshua must have returned to the Baptist after His forty days in the wilderness. That is the only explanation. And why not? John was preparing the minds of his disciples to follow the Messiah so it would be the natural thing for Yeshua to return there and recruit some of them, as He did. Then, "the day following" Yeshua would go forth into Galilee to find other disciples (LUKE 4:14 JOHN 1:43).

Another thing to keep in mind when reading the four Gospel accounts, is that what may be a comma or even just a pause in one Gospel, might well be filled with a whole itinerary in another Gospel. The four accounts were never meant to follow the same story line, otherwise, there would have been need for only one Gospel. Sometimes all four come together at the same event (like when Yeshua fed the five thousand at Tiberius) but then they go there own way, following their own peculiar mission, recording those events necessary for their unique perspective. (The interested reader may want to consult the book, Why Four Gospels? by David Alan Black)

It should be noted that there is a Divinely ordered reason for being four Gospel accounts instead of just one. Yeshua's ministry had four unique dimensions, four specific thrusts. The Gospel according to Matthew portrays Yeshua as the Lion. Here we read of Him as King (JEREMIAH 23:5, 6) and thus we have His royal lineage as recorded in the opening verses. Mark however, portrays Yeshua as the untiring worker, the Ox. In this Gospel account we read of Yeshua as the Servant (ZECHARIAH 3:8), needing no ancestry. Then Luke presents Yeshua as the Perfect Man, as the Son of Man (ZECHARIAH 6:12). Thus in his account we have Yeshua's lineage as a man going all the way back to the first man, Adam. And finally in the fourth Gospel we see Yeshua as the Eagle, the very Son of GOD (ISAIAH 4:2). All four aspects of Yeshua's ministry are brought together for us in Ezekiel's vision of the four faces coming out of a whirlwind of fire.

EZEKIEL 1:10 As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man [Luke's account], and the face of a lion [Matthew's account], on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox [Mark's account] on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle [John's account].